Effects of institutionalisation

Question 1

What is institutionalisation

Answer 1

This refers to the effects of growing up in an orphanage or children’s home

Question 2

What is privation

Answer 2

This is where a child has never had an attachment to its mother or caregiver

Question 3

What is deprivation

Answer 3

This is where an attachment was one formed but is now broken

Question 4

What did Rutter (1981) say about maternal privation

Answer 4

Rutter claimed that the effects of maternal privation are more likely to be serious than the effects of maternal deprivation-evidence:Genie case study

Question 5

Curtiss (1977) The case of Genie

Answer 5

• this reported the case of a girl who suffered extreme cruelty from her parents and never formed attachments
• her father strapped her to ahigh chair with a potty for mordt of her childhood
• she was beaten if she made sounds
• she didnt have the chance to play with toys or with other children
• she was found at 13 years old
• she was physically underdeveloped
• she could only speak animal like sounds
• she later learned language
• after lots of help she learned some language
• her social and intellectual skills never seemed to fully develop

Question 6

Romanian orphan study’s have been useful in psychology. Why?

Answer 6

Because they have enabled psychologists to directly look at the impacts of privation. Studies of children raised in institutions may provide more reliable data because sample sizes are bigger

Question 7

Rutter et al (2007) longitudinal study of romanian orphans procedure

Answer 7

• 111 romanian orphans who were adpoted by British families were compared with a group of 52 UK adoptees
• some of the orphans were adopted before they were 6 months old, some were older than 6 months old
• each child was assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11

Question 8

Rutter et al (2007) longitudinal study of romanian orphans findings

Answer 8

• the children who were younger than 6 months when they were adopted had the same level of emotional development as other UK children, who were adopted at the same age
• the Romanian orphans who were older than 6 months at adoption showed signs of insecure attachments and social problems
• the UK children who were older than 6 months at adoption didn’t show the same problems

Question 9

Rutter et al (2007) longitudinal study of romanian orphans conclusion

Answer 9

• the effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before the age of 6 months
• long term effects are more permanent if attachment doesn’t start to occur within 6 months
• maternal deprivation doesn’t cause permanent effects because the UK adopted children had been separated but didn’t show problems

Question 10

Rutter et al (2007) longitudinal study of romanian orphans evaluation

Answer 10

• the results with the older children may be due to a lack of any stimulation in the orphanage
• this was a longitudinal study, so Rutter was able to investigate the children over a long period of time-the results provide a good insight into the long term effects of privation
• main data collected was qualitative which is detailed but it is more difficult to create generalised laws or theories from

Question 11

Hodges and Tizard (1989) early institutional care aim

Answer 11

-to look at the effects of privation and institutional care of children raisedin institutions

Question 12

Hodges and Tizard (1989) early institutional care procedure

Answer 12

• longitudinal study of 65 children who had been placed in a residential nursery before they were 4 months old
• they hadn’t had the opportuity to form close attachments with any of their caregivers
• by the age of 4, some of the children had returned to their birth mothers, some had been adopted and some stayed in the nursery
• hodges and tizard useds: interviews with subject/mother, self report questionnaires, questionnaires by teacher, psychiatric screen test

Question 13

Hodges and Tizard (1989) early institutional care findings

Answer 13

• at 16 years old, the adopted group had stong family relationships, although compared to a control group of children from a ‘normal’ home environment, they had weaker peer relationships
• those who stayed in the nursery or who returned to their mothers showed poorer relationships with family and peers than those who were adopted

Question 14

Hodges and Tizard (1989) early institutional care conclusion

Answer 14

-children can recover from early maternal privation if they are in a good quality, loving environment, although their social development may not be as good as children who have never suffered privation

Question 15

Hodges and Tizard (1989) early institutional care evalutaion

Answer 15

• this was a natural experiment, so it has high ecological validity
• sample size small and more than 20 of the children couldn’t be found at the end of the study, so it’s hard to generalise the results
• lots of institutional children are underfed and malnourished with a lack of stimulation-could be these factors that influence their behaiour rather than lack of attachment
• study shows that the effects of privation/institutionalisation can be reversed
• some privation effects are long lasting

Question 16

What are some long term effects of privation

Answer 16

• affectionless psychopathology e.g. 44 Juvenile thieves
• anaclitic depression-appetite loss, sleeplessness, impaired social and intellectual development
• deprivation dwarfism-infants are physically underdeveloped due to emotional deprivation
• delinquency-minor crimes committed by youths
• reduced intelligence-infants don’t develop intellecually as fast as their peers